Monday, March 2, 2015

March 2nd 2015

Mom- in response to your email: We had one or two days that it rained very hard here but now its not. Warming up, 80s the past two days and humid. This is going to be fun... :)

Mission work is good, we finally got some investigators that I'll tell you about in a bit. My companion says you never get used to getting up in the morning so it'll be a fun 18 months. I found out that Brother Jorgensen's son is on the border of my area so we have tried to see him twice and he wasn't home. We will try one more time this month.

Dear everyone who is reading this,

Tomorrow marks a month of me officially being in Florida, in the field! Crazy!

This last week was very interesting! By the way, I will try not to be boring and long, I know I never read the emails from missionaries that looked boring. Sorry, but its the truth.

I'll give a run-down of this week:

You know you are in Florida if at every house you enter they offer you a water bottle. Not a glass of water or milk or juice, a water bottle. I'm glad they do though, the water here is most definitely NOT Oregon water. :(

Tuesday- I had my first official lesson (where we actually set a date and made a lesson plan) with a non-member investigator! Her name is Susanna and her mom lives with her named Mirka. They are from the Dominican Republic. You have no idea how much I am hitting myself for not learning Spanish from Brad before I left. Susanna speaks English enough but her mom doesn't. It was hard because they were trying to translate the whole time but they said they both felt the Spirit. We even sang to them because Mirka says you sing before you pray. :)

Everyone here has me play the piano. Before every meeting at church, in Sunday School, in Relief Society, you name it. I guess that's why the Lord put me in this ward first.

Wednesday- Was great! We visited with Zoraida because she is wonderful and a less active, and we ended up seeing one of her friends and reading Alma 32 out of the Book of Mormon with her. We discussed faith and how it is like a seed. We have to keep feeding it or it dies.

Fun story- We were at a members house and some kids broke into the house across the street and we saw it and called the cops. They came in and the kids tried to run but the cops obviously are trained in this and they caught all of them. I really wished I had some popcorn.

Went to another house and the mom kept talking about growing up in a house with evil spirits and all the bad things that happened. Her mom gave her a Ouija board for her 12th birthday. Pretty sad. But she assured us that her house now is clean because she took some oil or something and oiled around the doors and windows....I don't know. People are strange.

We took sister Barberena with us to see Mirka and it was great. She answered many of her and Susanna's question about the church. She asked about the temple that's in the D.R. and said she just loved the white missionaries that spoke Spanish there. You should ask Brad what areas he specifically served in because she knew a lot of missionaries. I don't know their last name or I would tell you.

Thursday- We helped a lady in our ward by doing some service for her. We cleaned out many cupboards in her kitchen and made a keep and donate pile. There were a lot of pretty china and such that she wanted to get rid of.

Taught Susanna and Mirka. We re-introduced Susanna to the Book of Mormon because she has had the lessons once before but has forgotten most of it. She feels the spirit but she works on Sundays so she can't really commit to anything yet.

Friday- We had a zone conference with Elder Zwick who is fantastic, as I said last week. His wife and granddaughter was there this time. His daughter is married to President Eyring's son. His granddaughter has two grandpas as general authorities. Crazy. And she's going on a mission.

We got our brand-new ipads! Wish I didn't have to pay for it but hey, I'll be able to use it for college after the mission. There are some advantages to having a strict mission- they trust you with trying out technology.

Saturday- Zoraida made us yummy lunch. Fried chicken, mac and cheese, cheesy broccoli, mmmmmm. I got spoiled. Another time this week a lady in our ward who is a young mom and culinary arts major made us the best potato soup I have ever had. Yep, spoiled.

Tell Damascus Ward YW thank you for the card! It made my day! :)

Sunday- I love the members in my ward, they are seriously the best. They want to bring others unto Christ.

We made tacos for dinner, it was nice to cook a real meal. We just never have time with only being allowed 30 mins for meals.

We visited Mary, a non-member whose mom has cancer and dementia. We have been seeing them quite a bit the past few weeks. Mary should already be a member, she believes exactly the same things. Her daughter is at U of U and is a member. She's just waiting on her husband to be taught the lessons. He is willing, but once again only speaks Spanish and is from the D.R. :(

That's about it. I am doing alright, I have ups and downs but I am where I am suppose to be! So many blessings come from serving a mission. I really love this gospel. I know the Book of Mormon is a true book given from God. If you read it, ponder it, and pray with a sincere and willing to change heart, God will tell you the book is true. I know it because I have done this. It will change your life. If you have already read it, continue to read it and pray. A testimony grows when you keep learning and sharing it with others.

I love everyone! Here are a few random pictures from this week. Sorry, I don't take pictures much. Have a great week!